Yemeni folk dance [Archives:2002/15/Culture]
April 8 2002
The folk heritage of Yemen is rich in several and various colors of the folk dances, many of which are still performed in several parts of Yemen. In fact, the ancient Yemenis considered dances a way of having fun and entertainment which could activate them during their hard work. The only musical instrumental they get used to use during dancing was a pipe made of the pipes of corns.
The dance, of course, does not mean moving the body, legs, and arms for the purpose of turning or wasting time but it does mean more than that. Firstly, it’s a way by which a person can have lot of fun when the body, legs, and arms move according to the tones of the pipe or the folk music. Secondly, it is away by which the person can express his happiness or sadness.
There are two kinds of dances which are the rural dance and the urban dance.
The rural dance has a lot of types such as: the violence dance, mountain dance, five-person dance, and the dance with animals like cows, camels horses. etc.
The women never take part in these dances.
The instruments used in such dances are the drum and the pipe. Most of these dances are still performed in most of the areas of Shabwa province especially Baihan and Nissab.
Among the dances that express war, hardship of life, boast, tribal enmities, and tribal comparisons is Albara which is still performed in most Yemeni areas and usually accompanied by folk songs called “Zawamel”.
The urban dances are different from the rural dances because they are softer and performed in cities, and women don’t take part in them.
Every kind of these dances is performed on special occasions, for example, there are dances which are performed during visiting the tombs of pious religion men {Al-Awlia Al- Saliheen}, and dances of farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and other general dances of fun.
In addition, there is a dance in Hadramout and Shabwa called “Al -Miah” in which the dancer beats his feet in the ground or claps strongly by his strong hands or boasts his manhood when he is dancing kindly with a woman.
In Aden and Lahj, there are dances such as: “Al zzar” and Al-Mazzaf which express the submission to the religious beliefs and myths.
In the dance “Al-zzar”, devils and people are called and money is spent. Women and men do not perform this dance together. The dancer falls unconsciously during dancing, but “Al-Mazaf ” is performing during visits to the tombs of the religious men.
There are three dances which are common and well-known throughout Yemen. These dances are sometimes a little different from an area to another.
1- Al-Zafeen: in this dance, the person should dance according to the tones of drums and guitar and should go forth and back many times. When he comes back, he should come back for about five meters. Then he should keep on going forth and back until the role is over.
The watchers should sit in the form of a circle or a square and there should be a wide space in the middle.
Women and men can take part in such dance.
2- Al-Sharh: in this dance, only one drum is used and the watchers stand in a big circle clapping according to the drum beats and singing very loudly. In the middle of the circle, two persons, one of them can be a woman, dance. Every one should hold the other’s hand and dance face to face.
3-Al-Bara:
The watchers stand in the form of a wide circle. In the middle of this circle, two or four persons dance waving their daggers and turning many times .
This dance is usually accompanied by collective folk songs in order to encourage the dancers to dance.
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